Vinyl records and other old technology ‘die hard’
By Nick Bilton New York Times News Service
For a glimpse of what teenagers are into these days, all you have to
do is visit Abbot Kinney Boulevard in the Venice neighborhood of Los
Angeles. On weekend nights, the half-mile shopping drag is packed with
style-conscious kids who traipse past coffee shops, ice cream parlors
and boutiques, often while taking selfies.
Yet one of the most popular destinations for these teenagers is a
white, single-story building with big pink letters on the roof that
spell “Vnyl.” The store sells vinyl records, and the kids who gather
there are often in awe.
“I’d say half of the teens who hang out in my store have never seen
a record player before,” said Nick Alt, the founder of Vnyl. “They will
walk up to the turntable, and they have no concept where to put the
needle.” But once they figure out that the needle goes into the
outermost groove, those smartphone-toting teenagers are hooked.
Whenever a new technology comes out, we often believe it will make
an older technology obsolete. As a reporter who has been covering
technology for The New York Times for more than a decade, I’ve made such
proclamations, saying that the iPad would kill the Kindle (I later
realized the error of my ways, and now own both), that eBooks would be
the death of print (I later reversed myself, several times), and that
driverless cars will make driving passé and allow us to nap in the front
seat (this has yet to be disproved).
But what I’ve come to realize is that while the new thing gets
people excited, the old thing often doesn’t go away. And if it does, it
takes a very long time to meet its demise.
Just look at film cameras. You would think they have been vanquished
from the planet, but millions of people still use them. In 2012, more
than 35 million rolls of camera film were sold, compared with 20 million
the year before.
And while Polaroid has filed for bankruptcy (twice) in the age of
digital cameras, the company is making a resurgence (again). One of
Polaroid’s largest growing demographics, surprisingly, is teenagers who
want a tangible photo but also don’t want to wait. (Polaroid has also
become the go-to camera for people who take nude photos and fear that
their phones could be hacked.)
Other types of physical media have also held on.
More than 571 million print books were sold in the United States in
2014. About 55 million newspapers still land on doorsteps every morning.
As for those vinyl records, 13 million LPs were sold in 2014, the
highest count in 25 years, according to the Recording Industry
Association of America. (Records are also one of the few growth areas
for the beleaguered industry.)
So why does old tech survive and, in some cases, undergo a revival?
For some consumers, it’s about familiarity (e.g., newspapers and print
books), while for others, it’s about nostalgia (e.g., record players and
film cameras).
For example, I’ve been taking photos for over 25 years, and what
made me fall in love with photography was the dirt, grit and grime of
film (I used to shoot with Tri-X 3200 for the film nerds out there). And
as much as I love my digital cameras, I’ve been shooting with film again
to capture some of that visceral quality I no longer get with pixels.
The resurgence of old tech doesn’t stop with physical media.
For example, tens of millions of Americans still own a landline;
millions of USB thumb drives are still being used even though you can
store anything in the cloud free; and people still use and buy tens of
millions of flip phones every year, including such notables as Mayor
Bill de Blasio, Anna Wintour, Warren Buffett, Iggy Pop and Rihanna.
Pagers also never completely died.
You’ve probably heard the saying that the minute that you drive a
car off a dealer’s lot, it loses value. Well, that is no longer true for
old cars. Some vintage cars have increased in value by 500 percent. (One
reason for this is that younger car owners want to be able to fix and
tinker with their own cars. Try doing that with a Tesla, and you’ll void
the warranty.)
Of course, there are some outdated technologies that die a fateful
death and never return. I don’t know many people with a dedicated car
phone, for example. (Though I’m sure some hipster just posted one to
Instagram.)
To be fair, we have been wrongly predicting the demise of old
technologies for some time. In 1876, for example, when The New York
Times first wrote about the telephone, and later the phonograph, the
writers of the day said that these devices would empty the concert halls
and churches, as no one would ever want to leave home again.
And yet, just this month, Diplo held a concert for an estimated
half-million people in Cuba. Something tells me that some of those
people will also be buying the performer’s album on vinyl. +
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Duane Whittingham - N9SSN - Fort Mitchell, KY
(ARES/RACES, EmComm, Skywarn & Red Cross)
http://www.radiodude.info
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